Zina Bethune

Zina Bianca Bethune (February 17, 1945 – February 12, 2012) was an American actress, dancer, and choreographer.

Early years

Bethune was born on Staten Island, the daughter of Ivy ( Vigder), a Russian-born (Sevastopol, present-day Ukraine) actress who started in the '' Superman'' radio series, and later became known for playing "Miss Tuttle" on ''Father Murphy'' and "Abigail" on '' General Hospital''. Zina's father, William Charles Bethune, was a sculptor and painter who died in 1950 when Zina was five years old.

Career

Theater and dance

Bethune began her formal ballet training aged six at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet.

By age 14 she was dancing with the New York City Ballet as Clara in the original 1954 Balanchine production of ''The Nutcracker''. Bethune's first professional acting role was at age six, with a small part in the off-Broadway play ''Monday's Heroes'', produced by Stella Holt at the Greenwich Mews Theater.

Television

As a child performer, Bethune appeared in the original cast of ''The Most Happy Fella'' as well as several American daytime television dramas,"Zina Bethune dies in hit-and-run at 66"
''Variety''. February 15, 2012. including a stint as the first "Robin Lang" on ''The Guiding Light'' from May 1956 to April 1958. Bethune played President Franklin D. Roosevelt's daughter in ''Sunrise at Campobello'' in 1960.

Newspaper columnist Dick Kleiner described Bethune's performance in a 1958 television production as a "shatteringly beautiful portrayal of Tennessee Williams' young heroine in '' This Property Is Condemned''."

In October 1958, she portrayed Amy March in the CBS musical adaptation of '' Little Women''. She portrayed nurse Gail Lucas on '' The Nurses'' (1962–65),Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. , pg. 776. and appeared in other series, including '' Kraft Television Theatre'' (with Martin Huston in the series finale), '' Route 66'', ''The Judy Garland Show'', ''Pantomime Quiz'', ''Hollywood Squares'', '' Young Dr. Malone'', ''Dr. Kildare'', '' Gunsmoke'', ''The Invaders'', and ''Emergency!''

Film

Bethune starred as "The Girl" alongside Harvey Keitel in Martin Scorsese's first feature film, ''Who's That Knocking at My Door'', released in 1967, although much of it (including Bethune's acting parts) was filmed in 1965 for Scorsese's student film project at New York University.

Other work

Throughout her life, Bethune worked with disabled students. She herself was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 11, and hip dysplasia diagnosed at 17.

Bethune founded Bethune Theatredanse (now called ''Theatre Bethune'') in 1981, a nonprofit dance and drama company that has toured internationally and performed at the White House. The company has been designated as the official resident company of the ''Los Angeles Theatre Center''.

She founded Dance Outreach, now known as Infinite Dreams, in 1980, which, as at 2012, enrolls about 8,000 disabled children in dance-related activities throughout Southern California.

Death

On February 12, 2012, five days before her 67th birthday, Bethune was killed in an apparent hit and run accident while she was trying to help an injured opossum in Griffith Park, Los Angeles.

Filmography

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bethune, Zina
1945 births
2012 deaths
Actresses from New York City
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American choreographers
American female dancers
20th-century American dancers
American film actresses
American television actresses
Jewish American actresses
Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
Road incident deaths in California
Pedestrian road incident deaths
20th-century American actresses
Dancers from New York (state)
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American women